FIC: From Chicago With Love [DS]
Title: From Chicago With Love
Author: imaginethetruth [Marianne Willoughby]
Fandom: Due South
Characters/Pairings: F. Vecchio, M. Thatcher, V. Metcalf, Kowalski
Rating: PG13 for the amount of times Ray says a bad word ;)
Summary: Fraser is a lot less alone than he thinks. Love actually is all around.
Author's Note: Oh this was so much fun for me to write! I am WAY to obsessed with these little ficlets.
FRANCESCA VECCHIO
Sometimes I wonder if anyone sees me; really sees me. Sometimes I think Fraser can. He knows I'm a real person with a mind and a heart and a right to be acknowledged. Fraser...just that name makes me smile. When he looks at me I blush. When he speaks to me I forget I have a brain. Why does it have to be him? He's just so...irresistible, but completely oblivious. Or maybe he isn't so oblivious and he's just trying to let me down easily. But I'm not giving up.
INSPECTOR MARGARATE THATCHER
I've spent all of my life hiding from love. And now I think it's finally found me. It turned over the rock I was hiding under and left me defenseless in the blinding sun. I don't do defenseless.
Honestly, I couldn't have chosen a worse time to fall in love. I'm at the peak of my career and I feel...fine. No. That at least is not true. I don't feel fine. I feel lonely. But I wouldn't have realized it if I hadn't met Fraser.
When I met him I knew I was in deep trouble. He did everything I asked of him - whether it was driving my limo, or taking my clothes to the dry cleaners. That is, until I asked him to change his uniform. Fraser put his foot down when it came to that. The truth is, I found it completely endearing, and I fired him because I was scared of getting in to deep. But then when he retrieved my brooch, I knew I couldn't do that to him. And I wanted him around.
The incident on the train confirmed it. When we were chained together, he sent my heart into a flutter like a silly school girl with a crush. I felt like a complete idiot. And then I thought I'd nearly lost him, but then he miraculously came back to me and I knew what I would've missed if he actually had...died. I can barely even link that word with Fraser.
So now I'm stuck. I can't love him because he's my subordinate, but I can't let him go or give him a transfer because I love him. I'm stuck.
VICTORIA METCALF
I'm not a bad person. I've just done bad things. A lot of bad things. But I'm sorry. I do feel remorse. And I will atone.
Benton Fraser saw through all of that. He saw through all of the terrible things I did. He could look at the darkest person and find a glimmer of light in their soul. He was an amazing man, Benton Fraser.
I loved him because he loved me. He really loved me. If you can love someone despite the fact that they nearly killed you and your friends and yet they still run after a speeding train to reach you...well you know they really love you. Feeling that strongly despite all the wrong some has done you...now that's the real meaning of love.
I may have killed him. No it wasn't my bullet from my gun, but it was in every way my fault. I'll never forgive myself for that. As I held him to me for that split second before he fell, I said goodbye. And then I let him go.
And I don't just mean that literally. In my heart I let him go, and if he's alive, I know he'll make the right decision and do the same. This is my final act of kindness. He'll never hear from me again. I'll start over and try and fix myself. I'll do it for him. Because I really do love him and I owe him that much.
RAY KOWALSKI
Stella left me emotionally fucked. I'm screwed up, worn out, and fragile as hell, but I think I'm gonna be okay. I don't think I'll ever love anyone the way I loved Stella...love her. Hell yeah, I still love her and it sucks! Because Stella was everything to me. I woulda died for her. Hell, I nearly did a few times.
So where does that leave me? It's sure hard to live when you've got nothin' cause you lost everything. Got so hard to live that I couldn't be me anymore. But I had to get out there cause I wasn't doin' myself any good just lyin' around all day. I guess I just couldn't be Ray Kowalski anymore. That's why I'm Ray Vecchio now.
Ray Vecchio's got a lot. He's got a family, a home, a job, and...he's got Fraser.
Fraser. You know, I don't get to say this too often, but as much as I bitch and moan about the guy, at the end of the day I fuckin' love him to death.
Sometimes I freak out cause I get scared he takes all my complaining about him seriously; that he thinks I'm some kind of dick for saying some of the shit I say to him. But then I remember...this is Fraser. Fraser who could never say or think anything bad about anyone.
But that's what I love about him. Fraser's good to the core. And yeah, it can be annoying as hell, but...how can you not love someone like Fraser?
Fraser and I have got one thing in common. We're both lonely. He's got no one other than that God damn wolf of his. And as much as he tries to deny it, he wishes he had someone. I wish I could tell him that he's got me. Cause he does. He's got me. It's like that one woman said - when we're all alone, we're all together in that too.
Cause with Fraser I'm completely sure. He's never gonna judge me for shit I did in the past an' he won't take off on me like the rest of 'em. Fraser's my friend. My best friend. And although I'll never admit it to anyone, I fuckin' love the guy. Just the way he is.